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MAR 23 1336 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 

OF THE 

BAPTIST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY 

OP 

HAVERHILL, MASS. 



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MEETING HOUSE OF THE BAPTIST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY, 
ERECTED 1883, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 



OF THE 



BAPTIST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY 



HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, 

AND OF 

THE CHURCH EDIFICES BUILT UNDER ITS 
DIRECTION, 

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

DEDICATION SERVICES, 
November 2U, 1883. 



B V 

HENRY C. GRAVES, 

PASTOR. 




HAVERHILL : 

PUBLISHED BY JAMES A. HALE, 

6 Main Street. 



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Copyright, 1886, 
By JAMES A. HALE. 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge .' 
Printed by H. 0. Houghton and Company. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



The Committee of Arrangements for the Dedication of the new 
Church Edifice of The Baptist Religious Society adopt the following 
minute : — 

The last public service in the church edifice on the corner of Mer- 
rimack and Pecker Streets was held December 31st, 1882. 

November 22d, 1883, the church building on Main Street was 
dedicated with appropriate religious services. 

The exercises on these two occasions, it is believed, were of such 
public interest and historical value that a published account of them, 
in permanent form, should be given. 

We therefore recommend that the Pastor be requested to prepare 
and edit a pamphlet containing the substance of the historical matter 
relating to the church edifices formerly occupied by the society, and 
also an account of the services of the dedication of the house which 
the church and society now occupy for religious purposes. 

W. R. WHITTIER, 
N. T. KIMBALL, 
AMOS W. DOWNING, 
S. L. JEWETT, 
GEORGE THAYER, 
JOHN F. DAVIS, 
E. A. HERRING, 

Committee. 

At the regular meeting of the First Baptist Church of Haverhill, 
Mass., held January 10th, 1884, it was voted to adopt the above 
recommendation of the Committee ; and the Pastor was requested to 

prepare the pamphlet for publication. 

JOHN D. NEWCOMB, 

Church Clerk. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



The Baptist Religious Society of Haverhill, Mass., 
as a voluntary organization, held its first meeting 
January 1st, 1765, at the house of Mr. James Duncan. 
It was on Tuesday, and, according to the journal of 
Rev. Hezekiah Smith, he had preached in a meeting 
place, "under Mr. Colby's roof/' from Luke xiii. 8, 9. 

The persons who met that New Year's evening were 
prominent men in the town of Haverhill. They had 
been members of the First Parish, but had resolved 
to organize a society in which the principles of relig- 
ious and civil liberty should prevail, the ordinances 
as instituted and appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ 
should be observed, and the doctrines of the Bible be 
faithfully preached and urged upon the minds and 
hearts of the people. Thirty-eight persons had ap- 
plied in due form of law for the use of the parish 
meeting-house, in which their minister might preach 
" at such times as shall not interfere with the public 
exercises of the parish minister." The parish refused 
to grant their request, and thus it became necessary 
to provide for the building of a house of their own. 
February 4th, 1765, is the first recorded date of the 
action of the new society. The record is in the form 
of a subscription paper, whose preamble reads thus : 



8 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

" Whereas it is proposed by a number of well-affected 
people in the town of Haverhill and other towns to 
build a convenient Baptist meeting-house for the pub- 
lic worship of God, for the people to meet in under 
their present difficult circumstances, to that end and 
purpose we promise to pay the sums affixed to our 
names." 

John White, Jr., headed the list of fifty-two names, 
and Abigail Hazen closed the same list. Each of 
these two persons pledged one hundred dollars, which 
was the largest sum promised by any one person. 
The whole amount subscribed was eleven hundred 
and thirty-five dollars. 

It was at once decided to erect a meeting-house 
on land formerly called the parsonage lands, which 
included a section extending from White's Corner to 
Little River, now in the heart of the city. The 
church was organized May 9th, 1765, and found that 
the society had anticipated its wants, and was ready 
with efficient cooperation and counsel to help on its 
work. 

The frame of the new building was raised June 5th 
and 6th, 1765. 

The pastor's journal has the record that the 5th 
was a very rainy day, though the rain did not pre- 
vent these Baptists proceeding to raise. 

On the next Sabbath morning, June 9 th, Rev. Mr. 
Smith preached u in the frame of the new meeting- 
house," not waiting for roof nor pew nor dedication. 
His text was Is. lii. 7, 8. Rev. James Manning, Pres- 
ident of Rhode Island College, preached in the same 
place in the afternoon, and " a solemn time it was," 
wrote the pastor in testimony of the event. 



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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 9 

The building proceeded rapidly to its completion, 
and each Sabbath it furnished the place for assem- 
bling and worship. The structure was plain, substan- 
tial, and architecturally unattractive, like most of the 
meeting-houses built by the plain substantial Baptists 
of that time. 

But the house was a better model to follow than 
any costly Gothic cathedral, for it was admirably 
adapted to the services these devout people were to 
observe within its walls. It was sixty feet in length, 
and forty-two feet in breadth, and large enough to 
hold one fourth of the inhabitants of the town. 

For more than sixty-eight years, or until 1833, it 
remained sacredly devoted to the use for which it 
was constructed. 

The first pastor, Eev. Hezekiah Smith, D. D., 
preached the first sermon within its uncovered and 
massive frame, and there also, within the well-kept 
house, he ended his forty years' ministry. Its bare 
frame caught the sound of his majestic voice as he 
unfolded the thought of the prophet on that early 
June Sabbath in 1765. The consecrated walls echoed 
the tremulous tones of that same preacher's voice 
forty years later, when, on the second Sunday in Jan- 
uary, 1805, a few days before his death, he preached 
from John xii. 2, 4, and closed his public service with 
these words of the hymn, — 

" I '11 praise my Maker with my breath ; 
And when my voice is lost in death 

Praise shall employ my nobler powers; 
My days of praise shall ne'er be past, 
While life and thought and being last, 
Or immortality endures." 



10 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

Thus he ended a blessed ministry with a faithful 
people. 

Three hundred and twenty - four persons became 
members of the church, most of whom he baptized. 
Under his leadership the society became foremost in 
all Christian work. Its own affairs were wisely ad- 
ministered in the most trying period of the nation's 
early history, and of the rise of the Baptist denomi- 
nation in this country. 

The wonder is that the young church was brave 
enough to plan its great work, and that the society 
did not waver in support of the new enterprise. It 
met intolerance, legal and illegal oppression, and per- 
secution from those who might have been neighbors 
and fellow-helpers of the good. But these founders 
of the church lived in the days when bigotry and prej- 
udice blinded even Christian men, who failed to see 
their own high privilege, and the manifest destiny of 
liberty of conscience and the spiritual rights of every 
man before his God. 

One instance of persecution will illustrate the spirit 
and practice of the time. Mrs. Martha Kimball, of 
Bradford, a widow and a member of the Haverhill 
church, wrote as follows to Dr. Isaac Backus, the 
earliest writer of Baptist history in New England : 
"This is to let you know that in 1768, on a very 
cold night in winter, about nine or ten o'clock in the 
evening, I was taken prisoner and carried, by the 
Collector in the town, from my family, consisting of 
three small children, in order to be put in jail. It 
being a severe cold night I concluded, by advice, 
while I was detained at a tavern in the way to jail 
some hours, to pay the sum of four shillings eight 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 11 

pence, for which I was made prisoner, it being the 
ministerial rate. The reason I refused paying it be- 
fore was because I was a Baptist, and belonged to 
the Baptist Society in Haverhill, and had carried in 
a certificate to the assessors, as I supposed, according 
to law. After I had paid what they demanded, then 
I had to return to my poor fatherless children through 
the snow, on foot, in the dead of the night, exposed 
to the severity of the cold. The tavern whither they 
took me is about two miles from my home.' , 

In the house of this woman, before the death of 
her husband, Mr. Solomon Kimball, Dr. Smith was 
accustomed to preach. On one occasion, as he was 
about to begin the service, the sheriff of the town 
forbade him and ordered him " off God's earth." 
When the preacher mildly asked whither he should 
go, the doughty officer replied, " Go anywhere, — go 
to the Isles of Shoals." The service, however, pro- 
ceeded amidst the noise, clamor, threats, and violence 
of the people, until at length the calm voice and 
fervent words of the speaker subdued the excited 
multitude to silence and a listening attitude. Thus 
the holy cause survived the opposition, the church 
outlived its persecutions, and soul liberty prevailed. 
Ten years after the society was organized the strug- 
gle of the American Colonies for nationality culmi- 
nated in the War of the Revolution. The patriotic 
people gave their pastor to the national cause. He 
served for five years as chaplain in the American 
army, and his record of the events in which he par- 
ticipated is a noble contribution to the history of 
that trying period. The society sent its men to be- 
come citizen soldiers, gave its property to support 



12 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

the cause of civil liberty, its wise counselors to aid 
in the deliberations concerning the national Consti- 
tution in 1787; and still it labored at home to main- 
tain pure religion against the rising infidelity of this 
period of the nation's history. It stood firmly for re- 
ligious freedom against Jesuitical methods and perver- 
sions of truth. It strove specially to promote the 
cause for which it was constituted a religious society ; 
namely, the salvation of souls through the gospel of 
Jesus Christ. When the need for spiritual work 
seemed to outweigh the need for further sacrifice in 
the absence of the pastor, the church recalled him 
by the loyal request that he would resign his post 
of chaplain in the army " as soon as he could with 
honor," and return to his post of pastoral duty and 
spiritual warfare. He soon complied, and again en- 
tered with mio;ht and vio;or into the service until 
he swept the country about the church with his pow- 
erful influence. The Holy Spirit was with him, his 
preaching was ever in demonstration of the Spirit 
and in power. The young church became the " little 
mother " of churches in Maine, New Hampshire, and 
Massachusetts, in the towns of Berwick, Amesbury, 
Salisbury, Newbury, Rowley, Andover, Stratham, Sa- 
lem, Plaistow, Billerica, and Methuen. The society 
was at the front to advance education among Baptists ; 
its pastor labored hard and well in the interests of 
Ehode Island College; the contributions for the col- 
lege were generous and regularly made from year to 
year. 

This church was one of four churches that united 
in 1767 to form the Warren Association, from which 
the other Baptist Associations in New England had 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 13 

their origin. The church — from which the society 
need not be distinguished in these particulars — was 
foremost in all progressive measures. It was the 
eleventh church in the order of the date of organi- 
zation in Massachusetts, but at once and for some 
years it was the largest church in the State. The 
eleven churches of 1765 have increased in 1882 to 
two hundred and ninety, among which this church 
now stands the thirty-sixth, reckoned by the number 
of its members. The Lord's seal of approval rests 
on the ministry of the fathers. 

When they had borne their lamented pastor to 
his burial, 1 the church and society found a worthy 
successor in Rev. William Batchelder, who stood in 
almost saintly presence from Sabbath to Sabbath be- 
neath the sounding-board in the meeting-house built 
for his predecessor. Persecutions subsided, Baptists 
vindicated their right to be, and to worship God as 
they believed they were taught in the New Testament 
to worship. The town was enlarged by commerce 
and trade ; the country passed through the ill-advised 
and injurious War of 1812. This liberty-loving peo- 
ple were burden - bearers in the nation's trials, but 
most of all they were true to their name and the 
purpose for which they had a name. William Batch- 
elder took his place, did his duty, made a noble record 
of ability, fidelity, and devotion, and at last fell a 
sacrifice to his zeal in the cause of the Lord. He 
died April 8th, 1818. During his ministry of nearly 
thirteen years, two hundred and eighteen joined the 
church. 

The third and last pastorate in connection with the 

1 January 31st, 1805. 



14 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

first meeting-house was that of Rev. George Keely. 
He was installed pastor October 7 th, 1818, and re- 
signed April 13th, 1832, after a successful ministry of 
thirteen and one half years. 

In this time one hundred and twenty -five addi- 
tions were made to the church ; the cause of missions 
was greatly advanced, both in the home and foreign 
field ; reforms were instituted ; and social and national 
questions, in their moral aspects, were earnestly dis- 
cussed. 

Fanaticism occasionally collided with the conserva- 
tism of the times, and their representatives some- 
times jostled hard against one another. But the 
church stood, in this period of its greatest internal 
trial, true to its divine principles, themselves sufficient 
in any trial to sustain those who abide by them. 
Father Keely's ministry is a grateful memory to some 
who read this record of it. His manly presence, it 
is easy to recall ; his prayers and his sermons are im- 
pressed on many minds and hearts. His last labors 
with the people, long after he had resigned the pastor- 
ate ; his affectionate and efficient work as the fellow- 
helper of the young pastor in 1840 ; his contribution 
to the church, and to the cause of good learning and 
of true piety in the persons of noble sons but lately 
departed from earthly scenes, are worthy of grateful 
mention. 

His ministry contributed to the rise of the splen- 
did Sunday-school system which is now international 
in extent. One of his printed sermons, preached 
in 1829, was a strong argument for Sunday-schools. 
It contained this address to the children : " You are 
our hope ; we shall soon relinquish our stations ; you 




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HISTORICAL SKETCH. 15 

must occupy them. You are the hope of the nation : 
let its sacred interests be yours. You are the hope 
of the world : it has claims upon you, and we charge 
you to meet them. You are links in the chain 
which connects the present with the future ; convey 
to the distant generations our sentiments, our insti- 
tutions, our privileges, our hopes unimpaired. Do 
your duty, my dear children, and take your reward." 

With the close of the third pastorate ended prac- 
tically the use of the first meeting-house. It had 
well answered its purpose for sixty-eight years, and 
the society prepared to build anew. The ministry of 
Rev. Stephen P. Hill was chiefly marked by the con- 
struction of the second house, which was dedicated 
November 7th, 1833. Its dimensions were seventy by 
forty-two feet. The timbers and material of the old 
house were made to do service again in the new 
building, in accordance, doubtless, with the economy 
and necessity of the times. This house was used for 
public worship for the comparatively short period of 
sixteen years. This time may be called the transi- 
tion period of the church and society from the old 
to the new : the generation with which we have lit- 
tle connection, except by tradition and history, and 
that wherein we are the representatives and actors. 

Mr. Hill was ordained October 2d, 1832. He 
preached in the old house one year, preached the 
dedication sermon in the new house, when his health 
failed, and he obtained leave of absence. At length 
he resigned, without again resuming pastoral duties ; 
thus the church was deprived of his services, which 
promised much, and which afterwards were abundant 
in the cities of Baltimore and Washington. 



16 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

In the interim between Mr. Keely's resignation and 
the settlement of Dr. Train, four years of experience 
and experiment were passed by the church, in which 
it maintained itself, sought for the Lord's man to 
lead it, received into its fellowship sixty persons, and 
with the society built the new house, called Kev. Mr. 
Hill and Kev. E. N. Harris to the pastorate, the one 
remaining in active service scarcely a year, and the 
other but a few months, not long enough to be in- 
stalled or formally recognized as pastor. 

In July, 1836, Eev. Arthur Savage Train began 
his ministry. He was ordained October 20th of the 
same year, and immediately set about the work of 
rebuilding the spiritual church. Its members rallied 
at his call, trials were met with patience, difficulties 
and oppositions by wise counsel and judicious man- 
agement. Appeals were made to highest motives, the 
Holy Spirit's aid was sought, questions of division 
were laid on the table, and Christian men and women 
learned to cooperate in the common cause. At length 
the Lord's time was at hand, his people were willing 
in the day of his power. The wonderful revival ot 
1840 was the result. It distinguishes a gracious epoch 
in the history of the Lord's mercy to this church. 
For three fourths of a century it had kept its first 
principles ; observed its earliest covenant ; and fol- 
lowed Him who goeth before his people. It came 
now in its maturity of years and experience to exert 
its mightiest influence on the community, and to rise 
into its high place, to stand, clear as the sun, fair as 
the moon, and terrible as an army with banners. The 
special years of the right hand of the Most High were 
1765, 1787, 1806, 1819, 1826, 1838, 1851, 1858, 1862, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 17 

1865, 1877, 1882. But before and after them all it 
is proper to write the year 1840. Thinking of the 
pastor, and his faithful helper Father Keely, one may 
recall and apply the Psalmist's song : — 

" Thou art the mighty one doing wonders : 

Thou hast redeemed with thine arm thy people, 
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. 
Thou didst guide thy people like a flock 
By the hand of Moses and Aaron." 

This was the epoch whence to note advance. The 
old was loved, the very timbers in the house seemed 
hallowed ; they were fashioned for their place by the 
stout hands moved by the stout hearts of the fath- 
ers of 1765. But the church was at its majority; it 
had outgrown its old home, and the renovated sanc- 
tuary of 1833 was insufficient. The demand for a bet- 
ter one prevailed ; the pastor had come to the height 
of his influence, the church stood with him in its 
renewed and united strength, the society in added 
force was ready as ever to provide for the greater de- 
mand of the occasion. The resolution to build was 
carried. The third house on the grand old site was 
finished and solemnly dedicated to God, November 
8th, 1849. The pastor, whose hand was on every 
part of the building as it rose in its place, stamped 
more surely his impress on the plastic and grow- 
ing church, and on the rapidly growing town. He 
gave eleven years more of faithful service to the 
cause of Christ in this pastorate, with no lapse nor 
loss of power. His ministry closed with his resigna- 
tion at the end of twenty-three and a half years, in 
which time three hundred and ninety -one persons 
were added to the church. 

2 



18 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

What can the man do who comes after the King ? 
The young pastor who succeeded Dr. Train was Au- 
gustus H. Strong, who was ordained August 1st, 1861. 
To his own mind it appeared to be no easy task to lead 
on a people accustomed to such generalship as that of 
the former pastors. But the Lord is the leader of his 
people and of his ministers. Mr. Strong's ministry be- 
gan in days of national trial, and was continued 
through the years of a war more fearful and deadly 
than that of the Kevolution itself. This pastorate, 
the record proves, was governed by the Holy Spirit. 
It confirmed the church in its pristine faith ; it 
wrought itself deeply into many hearts, that, by means 
of it, felt the power and the grace of God in their 
salvation. It closed, when the pastor heard the divine 
voice calling to other service, with ninety-six names 
added to the roll of church membership. 

The brief pastorate of Kev. William Fitz followed. 
It began January 24th, 1866, and ended December 
29th, 1867. In this time there were thirty -seven 
persons added to the church, and some needed changes 
and improvements were made to the church edifice 
by the society. 

Rev. George W. Bosworth, D. D., began his ministry 
with the church in February, 1869, he continued in 
the pastoral office ten years, and one hundred and 
fifty-four persons were received to the fellowship of 
the church. In all departments its affairs were faith- 
fully and well administered. The town had become a 
city, and much work was required to keep pace with 
the advancing interests of the people, and to meet 
the broader demands of the enlarging kingdom of 
Christ. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 19 

At the close of this ministry, much of the prepara- 
tory work was done, and the society was ready for 
removal from the spot so long occupied by the church, 
but now to be given up for business purposes. 

In January, 1880, Rev. Henry C. Graves accepted 
the pastorate. Three years of united work in connec- 
tion with the house built in 1849 followed. The en- 
rolled members of the church numbered three hun- 
dred and twenty-seven. The last year in which the 
old house was occupied was a year of spiritual growth 
and revival. The Sunday-school was greatly enlarged. 
Societies were formed to raise funds for the new 
house, its noble site was purchased, the old property 
disposed of, and on Sunday, December 31st, 1882, the 
last services were held in the house which had well 
served its generation of thirty-three years, and on the 
ground consecrated by the fathers in 1765. The ser- 
mon, by the pastor, upon that occasion was from the 
text John xiv. 31 : "Arise, let us go hence." Its clos- 
ing paragraphs were as follows : — 

"To-day this house in which we worship ends, in 
the providence of God, the purpose for which it was 
dedicated. We leave to-night this spot selected wisely 
by the fathers in 1765, and secured to us by the 
legacies of the devoted women, daughters of Samuel 
White, ' in and around whose house in their childhood 
three or four hundred persons had assembled when 
Hezekiah Smith conducted the evening worship of the 
family.' We thank God to-day, and set up the memo- 
rial, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord led us. We take 
the legacy as a holy trust transmitted unimpaired to 
us, to be used by us in the name and service of our 
God, and still unimpaired, since it is of God, and 



20 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

cannot perish by the using, to be passed on to those 
who shall succeed us. Israel left its buried dead — 
Moses and Aaron, and the people they led — be- 
hind them to go to the land Jehovah prepared for 
his people. But the new generation carried over the 
Jordan the law of Moses, the Ark of the Covenant, 
the priestly offices and services, and all their holy 
faith, the abiding legacy of the fathers. Disciples 
went forth leaving the hallowed upper chamber at 
the command, ' Arise, let us go hence/ But Christ 
went with them, his w r ord, his ordinances, and his 
spirit were their possession, which the blasting influ- 
ences of the world could not destroy. Into broader 
service, into sharper conflict with evil, on to sublimer 
victories, went the Christ and his chosen disciples at 
the voice of his own command, ' Arise, let us go 
hence/ 

" We go forth at Christ's word, leaving nothing be- 
hind that we need for inspiration and success. The 
perishable we leave, the imperishable we bear hence. 
How many dead do we remember ! A thousand 
names inscribed on the church books are to be num- 
bered among the departed. But they are before, not 
after us, and every one of them invites us onward. 
The pastors, Smith and Batchelder and Keely and 
Train, from their high places with the ascended Lord 
invite us on ; the noble band of church officers, dea- 
cons, clerks, superintendents, — Shepherd, Whittier, 
Keely, Duncan, Brown, Hale, and Appleton, — these, 
these invite us on. For this forward step many of 
them waited in hope, and to it gave their thought 
and prayer. The saintly company of our beloved in- 
vite us on. We leave no cemetery grounds to-day. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 21 

Our buried dead are not here. As we go hence, and 
the presence of the Lord goes with us, we go in the 
way they have gone ; we carry up with us what they 
have left for us to carry. Their material gift we take 
and put into the new place and into the new build- 
ing. In the name of the Lord of Hosts, who said, the 
silver is mine, and the gold is mine, we add our own 
gifts, until the tabernacle shall become a temple, and 
the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the 
former. Their faith, and courage, and devotion we 
possess. Their Lord is our Lord. To our Zion comes 
the old inspiring word, The Lord is in the midst of 
thee. Fear thou not. Let not thine hands be slack. 
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty ; 
he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he 
will rest in his love ; he will joy over thee with 
singing. 

" Already have we the prophecy's fulfillment — I 
will gather her that was driven out ; for I will make 
you a name and a praise among all people of the 
earth, when I turn back your captivity before your 
eyes, saith the Lord. 

" We take with us the same principles of soul lib- 
erty for which they suffered who assembled on this 
spot at first. One hundred and eighteen years are 
past ; social, political, scientific, and philosophical ques- 
tions have assumed a variety of forms ; but the creed, 
the faith, and the method of action of Baptist churches 
remain essentially the same. The gospel of Jesus the 
Christ is even with the best thought of to-day. This 
church now believes what the fathers believed. It 
finds in the same Bible the same blessed Gospel, illu- 
minated by another century's light, by which saving 



22 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

truth may be more clearly presented to men's minds 
and hearts. 

" We renew the old covenant to - day ; we reaf- 
firm our allegiance to the distinctive principles that 
2,300,000 Baptists in the United States believe to be 
the essential principles of the kingdom of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

" As we feel the soliditv and force of the doctrines 

«/ 

of this church, we understand how they, who con- 
tended for these doctrines in the day of battles, now 
enjoy repose among the immortals. We embalm 
their memory, and bear the living truth, with its spirit 
and its inspiration, with us where we go. 

"A royal heritage is ours. God's word is before us 
in promise as it is after us in fulfillment. Look, then, 
O pilgrims, on enduring scenes, unending days, cease- 
less years, that belong to us. The good is ever be- 
coming the better. The steps ordered of the Lord 
are homeward steps. The earthly house precedes 
the heavenly mansion. Here in the place of your 
vows, your renewals, your prayers, your tears, pre- 
pare for the place yonder where the Lord is; where 
are your answered prayers, your endless joys. Some 
of you come back to-day to the old place ; the old 
house, the old scenes affect you. You ask, why may 
not these be renovated and remain. God orders the 
advance. The tomb of the risen Christ is found 
empty at the close of every crusade. Christ is on 
high. Go hence in the name and presence of the 
living Christ. 

u Barbarossa's brave word shall be our word. When 
ready for his advance, tidings came that his son was 
dead. ' My son dead ! ' said the weeping father. But 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 23 

through his tears he cried, ' The Christ lives ! Forward, 
soldiers, march ! ' Forward, soldiers of the blessed cru- 
sade, in the name of the living Christ. c Arise, let 
us go hence/ " 

Once more, on the evening of the last day of the 
year, 1882, the people met in the old house, for 
the closing exercises of worship. The other Baptist 
churches of the city united in the services. 

Deacon S. L. Jewett spoke in behalf of the church 
and its officers. 

Deacon J. F. Davis gave some account of the be- 
nevolent work which had largely occupied the church 
during its entire history. 

Dr. 0. D. Cheney presented a brief history of the 
Sunday-school, which was organized in 1817, and 
made appropriate mention of its superintendents, Jo- 
siah Keely, Josiah Brown, J. H. Duncan, John Keely, 
George W. Day, C. Stickney, N. T. Kimball, and G. W. 
Duncan. 

Mr. N. T. Kimball presented the leading facts re- 
lating to the Baptist Eeligious Society, organized in 
1765, and legally incorporated by act of the Legisla- 
ture in 1793. 

Mr. George W. Day described the new church edi- 
fice in process of building. 

Mr. C. Stickney spoke in behalf of the congrega- 
tion in cheering words. 

The choir and congregation sang the following 
hymn, written by the pastor : — 



24 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

CLOSING HYMN. 
( Tune, " America") 



Accept our prayers and songs: 
To Thee all praise belongs, 

Father benign. 
As Thou didst keep, O God, 
The paths our fathers trod, 
Our souls, beneath thy rod, 

To Thee resign. 

ii. 

We heed the forward call: 
Let cloud and fire o'er all, 

Shine from above. 
While we thy name revere, 
With all who worshiped here, 
Lead us in holy fear, 

Lord God of love. 

in. 

Jesus whom we adore, 
Go with us, we implore; 

Hear, hear our prayer. 
To temples without hands, 
Built for the saintly bands, 
In the blest heavenly lands — 

Oh guide us there. 



Kev. Dr. Bosworth led in prayer, and with the 
benediction this last service ended. 




MEETING HOUSE OF THE BAPTIST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY, 
ERECTED 1849. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 25 

KEMOVAL TO THE NEW SITE. 

Having disposed of the property on Merrimack 
Street, which had been held for one hundred and 
eighteen years, the Baptist Eeligious Society pur- 
chased an eligible lot of land on Main Street, near 
Arlington Street, adopted plans for a church edifice 
prepared by Mr. E. A. P. New comb of Boston, and in 
May, 1882, began to lay the foundation of the new 
building. The foundation was finished and the super- 
structure begun in July of the same year. 

September 7th, 1882, there was deposited in the 
tower of the church a box containing the history of 
the first century of the First Baptist Church, and 
other documents. Appropriate religious services were 
held in connection with this event. The contents of 
the box are as follows : — 

1. Centennial discourse on the one hundredth anniversary of the 
church, by Dr. A. S. Train. 

2. Covenant and catalogue of members. 

3. Articles of faith and order of services. 

4. List of officers of the church. 

5. Prudential Committee, officers, trustees, and Building Com- 
mittee of the society. 

6. Order of exercises at the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Sun- 
day-school, with names of officers and teachers. 

7. Minutes of the Sunday-school Convention, and of the Mer- 
rimack River Baptist Association. 

8. Copies of discourses in memory of Hon. James H. Duncan 
and Deacon John Keely. 

9. Copies of the Watchman, the Examiner, the Helping Hand, 
and the Home Mission Monthly. 

10. Copies of the Bulletin and of the Gazette of September 4th, 
1882. 

11. Pictures of the church on Merrimack Street and of the new 
church. 



26 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

12. History of the Ladies' Furnishing Fund Society. 

13. List of members of City Government, City Ordinances, 
School Report, and Bradford Academy Catalogue. 

The society meanwhile was not neglectful in the 
matter of providing for the congregation. Several 
churches in the city kindly offered their hospitality, 
and it was decided to accept that of the North Con- 
gregational Church, as indicated by this vote of the 
Prudential Committee : — 

The North Congregational Society having generously invited us 
to use their house for public worship on Sabbath afternoons, it was 
voted to accept their invitation, and service will be held there com- 
mencing the first Sabbath in January. 

Per order of committee, 

C. N. Rhodes, Secretary. 

In answer to the note accepting the offer, the 
Committee of the North Congregational Society, 
through their chairman, Hon. Moses How, wrote, ex- 
tending also the use of their chapel for the Sabbath- 
school, and for other meetings during the week. Ac- 
cordingly services were held on Sabbath afternoons 
in the church, and union prayer - meetings in the 
chapel each week for four months. In this time the 
Psalmist's words were verified, Behold how good and 
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in 
unity. The society would make permanent record of 
its appreciation of the attention and Christian cour- 
tesy of the esteemed pastor, Kev. Dr. R. H. Seeley, 
and the generous people of the North Congregational 
Society. 

On the 7th of May, 1883, the society opened its 
elegant chapel, and the congregation assembled for 
the first time to worship there. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 27 

The pastor discoursed on the occasion from Psalm 
cxxii. 1, 2, 8 : " I was glad when they said unto me, Let 
us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall 
stand within thy gates, Jerusalem. . . . For my 
brethren and companions' sakes, let me now say, Peace 
be within thee." 

Once more at home, the people entered with new 
vigor upon their work. The Sunday-school was en- 
larged, social meetings increased in interest, the ap- 
peals for money were answered by regular and large 
contributions, and at length, early in November, 
eleven months after the last service in the old house, 
the Society's Building Committee declared the new 
house ready for occupancy. A large and influential 
committee representing the church and society was 
chosen to prepare for the dedication of the build- 
ing. 

It was found, however, that $18,000 were needed, 
in addition to the amounts already secured, to meet 
the expense of the grand enterprise, and it was voted 
not to dedicate the house until this amount was 
pledged. A committee was chosen to devise and 
prosecute a plan to raise the required sum. 

On Sunday, November 11th, the congregation took 
seats in the auditorium. Opening services were ob- 
served ; the attention of the people was called to the 
motto on the blackboard in front of them, " God's call 
to-day is for $18,000." The account of the work and 
its cost was then given, and subscriptions were called 
for to cancel the debt. Responses were immediately 
given in sums of $1,000, $500, $250, $200, $100, 
$50, and in various other amounts, until nearly every 
one present had contributed ; and at the end of the 



28 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

second service, held in the evening, it was found that 
the whole amount was pledged, and the congregation 
joined heartily in singing and benediction to close the 
glad and memorable day. 

Monday evening following this event, the grand 
organ was opened by an appropriate concert of instru- 
mental and vocal music, conducted by Mr. B. J. Lang 
and Mr. Norman McLeod, organists, and Mrs. J. Hous- 
ton West, Miss Hattie McLain, Mr. J. F. Winch and 
Mr. G-. J. Parker, vocalists. The proceeds of the con- 
cert were generously appropriated towards the ex- 
pense of the organ, which the Ladies' Furnishing Fund 
Society had bravely resolved to meet. The prelimi- 
nary work thus being done, the house was publicly 
dedicated to religious purposes on Thursday, Novem- 
ber 22d, 1883. 

The following was the order of exercises : — 

MORNING SERVICE. 
AT 10.30 o'clock. 

1. Organ voluntary and doxology. 

2. Invocation. 

3. Anthem. 

4. Scripture lesson and prayer. 

5. Statement of the Building Committee by Geo. W. Day, and 
response by N. T. Kimball. 

6. Hymn, by S. F. Smith, D. D. 

Come Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
Grace with thy light this new abode ; 

Abide, as erst in Israel's host, 

And show thyself the present God. 

Led in our wanderings by thy love, 
By day the cloud, by night the fire, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 29 

Our yearning hearts shall look above — 
Kindle new faith, new zeal inspire. 

Here feed our souls with heavenly bread, 

Here let the living waters glide ; 
Here be the Spirit's influence shed 

And sinners saved through Him who died. 

The house which human hands have wrought 

Stands, a new temple to thy fame ; 
Accept the gift our hearts have brought, 

An humble tribute to thy name. 

7. Sermon by the pastor, Henry C. Graves. 

8. Dedicatory Prayer, Geo. W. Bosworth, D. D. 

9. Response. 

Holy Father, Christ Redeemer, 
Holy Spirit, God of love ; 
Hear us, hear us, in thy mercy, 
Grant us answer while we pray. 

All we offer consecrate Thou, 

All the offering is thine own ; 

Fill thine house, Lord, with thy presence, 

Fill our hearts, Lord, with thy love. 

10. Hymn, by S. P. Hill, D. D. 

O Thou the high and holy one, 

Before whose great and glorious throne, 

The hosts of angels fall ; 
The highest heavens attempt in vain 
Thine utmost grandeur to contain, 

Eternal all in all. 

Yet in this house prepared for Thee, 
Thou, Lord, wilt not disdain to see 

Our feebler praises rise, 
Nor, when in want and woe we bring 
Our prayers, wilt Thou the offering 

Of contrite hearts despise. 



30 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

Again the seraph strength impart — 
Oh touch the lips, and touch the heart 

With living fire from heaven ; 
So shall we feel thy gospel's power, 
And seize on mercy's favored hour, 

And sing of sins forgiven. 

Here may we in thy likeness grow, 
And here may heavenly comforts flow 

To soothe our weeping way ; 
While hope her sweetest solace brings, 
And faith unfolds her sun bright wings 

And scatters wide the day. 

Whene'er at length life's duties done, 
We leave this temple one by one, 

Oh give us all to rise, 
In higher, holier courts to dwell, 
And, near thy blissful presence, swell 

The rapture of the skies. 

11. Benediction. 

The Hymns were written by their authors for this Service.) 



AFTERNOON SERVICE. 

AT 3 O'CLOCK. 

1. Organ voluntary and anthem. 

2. Scripture and prayer. 

3. Hymn. 

4. Addresses by former pastors and other clergymen. 

5. Hymn. 

6. Benediction. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 31 

EVENING SERVICE. 

AT 7.30 o'clock. 

1. Organ prelude and anthem. 

2. Scripture and prayer. 

3. Hymn. 

4. Sermon, by Rev. A. H. Strong, D. D., of Rochester, N. Y. 

5. Prayer. 

6. Hymn. 

7. Benediction. 

After the introductory exercises of the morning ser- 
vice, Eev. Alvah Hovey, D. D., offered prayer. 

At the close of the prayer, Mr. George W. Day, 
in behalf of the Prudential Committee, placed in the 
hands of Mr. N. T. Kimball, Chairman of the Pru- 
dential Committee, the deed of the property and the 
keys of the church, briefly stating that a meeting of 
the society was held February 4th, 1882, to see what 
action the society would take with reference to build- 
ing a new church edifice. At a meeting held February 
14th, 1881, it was voted to build a new church, and a 
committee chosen to purchase a site and to take the 
preliminary steps. The site was purchased, and the 
architectural designs were prepared by E. A. P. New- 
comb of Boston. The work on the foundation was 
commenced in May, 1882, and on the superstructure 
in July. The first service was held in the chapel May 
7th, 1883, and in the auditorium November 17th. 
The cost of the building, with all its appointments, 
was $76,871. 

Mr. Kimball, on receiving the keys, deeds, and 
other documents from Mr. Day, spoke as follows, in 
behalf of the Prudential Committee : — 



32 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Building Committee : 
The passing of these papers and keys into my hand 
demands from me a word of response in behalf of the 
Prudential Committee and of the Baptist Religious 
Society, whose servants alike we are. These keys and 
papers indicate the value and preciousness of the 
thing to which they belong. They signify the trust 
committed to us, and a corresponding care that is 
expected from us, your Prudential Committee, on ac- 
count of this property. This act denotes your work 
ended and our work begun. 

About two years ago, in a business meeting of this 
society, a motion was made " that the society proceed 
to build a new meeting-house." That motion, if I re- 
member aright, was carried without dissent. 

The result of that motion, through you, gentlemen, 
sustained by this society, is this magnificent struc- 
ture. 

This is not the time nor place for the formal expres- 
sion of the thanks of the society to you for the noble 
and complete service which you have rendered it. It 
is fitting and appropriate, however, and I should be 
doing a wrong did I omit, to mention the high appre- 
ciation we have of you and your splendid work for 
our people. 

Few of us may know in part, none of us can fully 
know, the amount of time taken from your business, 
the constant care, the earnest and faithful thought, 
the diligent planning for the best interests of us all, 
and the ceaseless strain to which you have been sub- 
jected ; and which through you, gentlemen, have en- 
tered into and stamped themselves with so much of 
character upon this enterprise. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 33 

You have builded well, but not too well ; substan- 
tially, but not too solidly ; costly, but not lavishly ; 
with elegance, but not with too much magnificence ; 
with great refinement of taste in the external, as well 
as the interior architecture and finish of the structure. 
For its cost, you have given us a building remarkably 
complete and perfect in all its apartments and their 
appointments. 

This edifice is a landmark and an ornament to this 
old historic town and locality ; to this new and brill- 
iant city ; and I know I voice the sentiment of the 
people on both sides of our beautiful river, as well as 
of the Prudential Committee and this church and so- 
ciety, when I say you have placed us all under the 
profoundest obligations. We are grateful to you, gen- 
tlemen ; you have given us what is, in the highest 
sense of the word, a thing of great beauty and char- 
acter. 

Gentlemen, the Prudential Committee receive this 
trust in the same spirit of fidelity as that in which you 
give it, and pledge you, so far as our ability will allow, 
as the name of our committee indicates, the prudent 
care and management of this property. 

Members of the Baptist Religious Society and Con- 
gregation, the society of which you are a part is 
nearly a century and a quarter old. This is the fourth 
meeting-house constructed for its use. The first house 
was erected in 1765. The second was built in 1833, and 
dedicated November 7th. The third was constructed 
in 1849, and dedicated November 28th. The fourth, 
just completed and placed in your hands, is to be ded- 
icated this day of our Lord, November 22d, 1883. I, 
with you, am gratified that our Building Committee 



34 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

have retained and placed in this new building some 
pleasant and familiar reminders of the old one which 
we have but recently left : the windows in the chapel 
through which we receive the softened light of day ; 
the old clocks, faithful in the measurement of time and 
warning us of its flight ; and the bell, whose rich and 
mellow tones have for so many years sounded out a 
call for the people to gather at the house of worship ; 
for a century to come may its same call go forth from 
yonder tower. 

But of far greater value than these, we preserve 
the record of this society, true to itself and fraught 
with interest, instruction, and profit for us all ; a rec- 
ord of men of great religious, moral, social, and polit- 
ical influence and power. 

With this rich legacy of the past, and these relics of 
the last house of worship, this new church edifice 
comes into your possession from the hands of your 
Building Committee. We all have reason to be grate- 
ful to that Providence whose eye has overlooked all 
our work, that no serious accident has occurred to 
any one engaged upon its construction. So, too, I may 
offer you one word of gratulation ; that the generous 
responses to our Soliciting Committee, the kindly and 
munificent gifts of our own people, and our neigh- 
bors and friends, with the not less important, though 
smaller, contributions ; and the earnest and untiring 
energy and zeal of our ladies and young people for 
the furnishings of the house, with their personal gifts 
and sacrifices ; with the generous aid and inspiration 
of our musical talent, have, with our united effort, 
made in this place a few days ago, brought this grand 
enterprise to a successful issue. Our society thus re- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 35 

mains, as it has always stood, free from the incum- 
brance of debt. And this, too, without diverting 
directly or indirectly one dollar of our fund, princi- 
pal or interest, from its original design. We occupy 
to-day this high vantage-ground. Much, therefore, is 
to be expected of us ; much to be required at our 
hand. 

We do not forget, I know, that this is a religious 
society, and that this house is constructed for religious 
ends, and it will be appropriated only for such pur- 
poses as promote these ends. We are physical, social, 
and moral, as well as spiritual beings. And so the 
comfort and needs of the body, the cultivation of our 
social qualities, the training and development of the 
moral nature, are not forgotten by us. But these are 
only secondary, and are to be sought and secured only 
as they touch upon and are subservient to the forma- 
tion and establishment of Christian character. It is for 
the religious life of souls here and hereafter that this 
house is builded, and for the worship of Him who is 
the life of that life. 

And so it comes that I say one word to the people, 
for whom it is designed. Its doors are open to all of 
every name, henceforth, and its seats will be as free 
upon the same conditions for any one who desires to 
be a member of the congregation, as for any member 
of the society ; and the stranger will always be wel- 
comed. 

And now, pastor of the First Baptist Church and 
Society, the work for which you have earnestly la- 
bored and fervently prayed, and in which you have 
taken so just a pleasure and pride, is consummated. 
This day, necessarily so long delayed, has come. This 



36 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

house, with its pulpit and its pews, with its carvings 
and its finished walls, and organ of rich and solemn 
sound, is to be dedicated to the service of the Lord. 

To you, sir, as chairman of the Dedicatory Commit- 
tee, I give place, with this wish, that your ministry in 
this sanctuary may be abundantly blessed of God. 

The pastor responded in these words : — 

Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen of the Prudential Committee, and 

Gentlemen of the Building Committee : 

On behalf of the First Baptist Church and congrega- 
tion, whose representative I am in the providence of 
God, I thank you ; and in the name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, whose servant I am, and for whose glory are 
all these things, I invoke upon you and your work 
the blessing of Almighty God. 

It may not be improper for me now to present a 
description prepared by the architect of the building 
this day transferred to the Baptist Keligious Society, 
and to be set apart by these services of dedication 
to the purpose of divine worship under the lead of 
the church. 

" This church edifice may be classed with the largest 
church edifices of the State, the plan covering about 
fourteen thousand square feet of land. The building 
is divided in plan into entrance porches and tower, 
auditorium, choir, and chapel. The entrance facade 
consists of a porch of three arches supported on 
square piers with moulded bases and sculptured cap- 
itals, flanked on the south corner by a vestibule four- 
teen feet square, two stories high, with a ' lean-to 
roof ; ' on the north corner by the large tower, which 
also serves as a vestibule in the auditorium floor. 
Over the porch is a ' Kose ' window, which is sur- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 37 

mounted by a large gable. The tower forms the 
grand feature of the building, and is nineteen feet 
square at the base, battering in a height of fourteen 
feet to a square of eighteen feet ; out of the battered 
portion the pilasters spring, which form the corners 
of the tower. The openings are all narrow, long, and 
clustered in groups, all of the windows having square 
heads. At a height of seventy-five feet the corner 
pilasters are brought together by an arch of several 
members ; at this height the straight outline is broken 
by gargoyles of grotesque and conventional form, 
their heads projecting three feet from the corners, and 
their wings forming the contour of a moulded course 
at the base of the belfry. Above this line are the 
belfry arches, which consist, on each side, of one arch 
nine feet wide, supported on columns with moulded 
bases and sculptured capitals. The arches are com- 
posed of several mouldings. Above them the walls 
are corbeled out, and between the corbels are small 
open arches. The whole is covered with a high roof, 
crocketed on the angles, and surmounted by a double 
cross of wrought iron. On the corners, at the spring 
of the roof, are square pinnacles, which finish with 
finials. The whole height of the tower from ground 
line to top of cross is one hundred and forty feet, and, 
with its open arches and massive form, it constitutes 
a noble feature of the sky outline of Haverhill. The 
auditorium is eighty-three feet wide by fifty-eight feet 
deep and forty-two feet high ; lighted at the lower 
part by long and narrow windows, in groups of six, 
at the north and south sides, and singly elsewhere. 
Above these are ' Eose ' windows thirteen feet in di- 
ameter. 



38 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

"The ceiling is of wood with heavy moulded beams, 
forming by their intersection panels, which are filled 
in with moulded sheathing. The seating is arranged 
on the amphitheatrical form; the floor pitching to- 
ward the platform. The pulpit platform is brought 
out into the church, so that the speaker is equidistant 
from the three sides of the auditorium, or at the ra- 
diating point of the circle of seating. On the north 
and south sides of the auditorium are galleries, which 
are reached from the staircase in the large tower and 
smaller vestibule on the front. The walls of the in- 
terior are plastered in sections, surmounted by capi- 
tals and corbels that support small columns which are 
placed under the ends of the large beams. At the 
angle of the roof and walls is a cornice and frieze 
which run between each corbel and form the crown- 
ing feature of the wall veil. The wall separating the 
auditorium from the choir is pierced by three arches, 
the central one spanning the singers' gallery; the 
smaller ones being filled with the organ pipes, the 
three forming, with their elaborate columns, pilasters, 
and moulded arches, the grand feature of the pulpit 
end. The choir is fourteen feet deep, and is the con- 
nection between the auditorium and the chapel ; the 
first story being planned to contain, on the south side, 
the porch vestibule to the chapel and staircase to the 
singers' gallery. On the north side are the pastor's 
room and the porch to enter the children's room and 
the pastor's room ; each of these porches serves also 
as an exit from the auditorium, which has a vestibule 
at each corner and also a large door from the porch 
in front. 

"Between these north and south porches the place 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 39 

is arranged with dressing-rooms, and in the centre a 
path leading down to the baptistery, which is placed 
beneath the pulpit platform. The singers' gallery, 
organ loft, and choir-room are above. Beneath the 
gallery of the choir is erected the reredos or screen, 
which is divided into three arches, finished with triple 
columns in groups with sculptured capitals, corbels, 
and bases. The central arch contains the large doors, 
which, when opened, form the paneled sides of the 
passageway leading down into the baptistery ; the 
arches on the sides contain the doors leading from 
the pastor's room to the pulpit. 

" The chapel is one hundred and two feet in length 
from north to south, and forty-four feet in width from 
east to west. It contains in the basement a dining- 
room forty-one feet by seventy, a staircase, hall, kitch- 
en, and store-room. On the audience floor is the large 
chapel forty-one feet by sixty, a ladies' room twenty- 
two feet by forty-one on the south side, and on the 
north side the children's room, toilet room, and library. 
The three rooms are thrown into one by sliding par- 
titions. The audience in the church have access di- 
rectly to the chapel by passing through the north and 
south porches referred to in the arrangement of the 
first story of the choir plan. 

" The auditorium is calculated to seat twelve hun- 
dred persons ; the chapels together about seven hun- 
dred persons. 

"The church is designed in the Romanesque style 
of architecture, and in its plan and general construc- 
tion, the simplest and most massive treatment has 
been studied. The walls outside are of common brick 
laid in red mortar, with terra-cotta trimmings. All 



40 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

roofs are slated with purple slate, except the tower, 
which is covered with red slate. 

"The front vestibule is approached by a flight of 
granite steps extending across the porch thirty-three 
feet wide. The porch is tiled with red and black 
tiles ; the roof beams are of Southern pine. The au- 
ditorium is finished in cherry, of a dark finish, the 
panels of the ceiling being relieved by a finish of oak. 
The chapel is finished throughout in ash. The de- 
tails of the sculpture for the exterior and interior 
have been studied from the examples of Romanesque 
left to us in the noble cloisters of St. Troiphime at 
Aries, one of the most celebrated buildings of that 
order in the world, and it has required great skill and 
care to arrange the florid sculpture of that example 
into the simpler forms which meet the requirements of 
this age. The gargoyles on the corners of the tower 
are said to be the largest modeling which has ever 
been done by the Boston Terra Cotta Company, who 
furnished that portion of the work. The model was 
a mass about seven feet high and six feet wide at the 
widest part. The stained glass and fresco have been 
as carefully studied as the rest of the ornamentation, 
and form the great beauty of the auditorium in their 
combinations of rich colorings. The stained glass has 
been furnished by Messrs. Redding, Baird & Company, 
of Boston. The church owes much of its internal 
beauty and harmony to the mural decoration ; this has 
been done principally in color, metals of various kinds 
being used to heighten the effect of the sculptured 
portions of the walls. Messrs. Nordhund & Casson, 
of Boston, were the decorators. The gas fixtures 
have been made from special designs by Messrs. R. 
Hollings & Company, of Boston." 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 41 

The erection of the church has been in the hands 
of Messrs. J. E. & 0. L. Giddings, contractors, Exeter, 
N. H. The organ has been made by Messrs. Hutch- 
ings & Plaisted, of Boston ; the heating and ventilat- 
ing apparatus by the Ruttan Heating and Ventilating 
Company, of Toledo, 0. The pulpit, furniture, and 
finish were the work of Messrs. Wassenius & Dessault, 
of Boston. The carving is elaborate and perfect in 
detail and finish. Mr. G. W. Bent famished the cush- 
ions, and Messrs. Pray & Sons the carpets. The entire 
building, with all its finishing, shows the skill, study, 
and constant attention of the architect, Mr. E. A. P. 
Newcomb. The building itself is his best commenda- 
tion. 

The Building Committee, Messrs. A. W. Downing, 
L. V. Spaulding, George W. Day, Charles B. Emerson, 
and 0. D. Cheney, have been unremitting in their 
efforts and successful in the highest degree. With the 
means placed at their disposal, they have furnished 
the Baptist Religious Society with a most commodious 
church edifice, unsurpassed in quality, utility, and 
beauty. They deserve the satisfaction that must fill 
their minds when they contemplate their finished 
work, and remember that the verdict of the congre- 
gation is the voluntary pledge of $18,000 made on 
Sunday, November 11th, 1883, to meet the last items 
of expense connected with the construction and fur- 
nishing of the building. 

The ladies of the congregation have undertaken to 
meet the cost of the organ, furniture, and furnish- 
ing of the building, while the young people and the 
Sunday-school have been large contributors to the en- 
terprise, for whose success all have so nobly worked. 



42 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

The Bible and Hymn Books for the pulpit were the 
gift of Mrs. Phebe How, by the hands of Hon. Moses 
How and his sisters, Mrs. Gale and Miss How, who 
sacredly carried out in this gift the wish of their de- 
ceased mother. 

The following is the dedicatory sermon : — 

THE CHURCH EDIFICE A SYMBOL. 

Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow- 
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God ; 

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; 

In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy 
temple in the Lord: 

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through 
the Spirit. — Ephesians ii. 19-22. 

The thought of the Apostle appears to be this: — 

The eternal purpose of God the Father concerning 
human redemption is expressed in the person and 
sacrificial work of God the Son, and it becomes the 
experience of all believers through the renewing work 
of God the Holy Spirit in their souls. 

So, then, ye who are thus renewed and made alive 
in Christ Jesus are no longer strangers from the 
covenant of the promise and aliens from the common- 
wealth of Israel, but are fellow-citizens with the saints, 
and members of the household of God. 

Changing now the form of thought from the po- 
litical and domestic to the architectural, Paul declares 
that these whom he addresses are built upon the 
apostles' and prophets' foundation ; that is, the eternal 
purpose of God on which they builded, Christ Jesus 
himself being the chief corner-stone. In whom the 
entire building, every part of it, framed together, part 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 43 

to part, groweth unto a holy temple, not an ordinary 
building, in the Lord. In whom also ye, as parts of 
the sanctuary, are builded together into a dwelling- 
place of God in the Spirit. 

The Apostle's language, in this architectural form, 
furnishes my theme : — 

The Church Edifice a Symbol 

The church building is the type of the church ; 
the material temple is the visible sign of the spiritual ; 
the earthly is the figure of the heavenly. This build- 
ing, which we set apart to-day from all secular pur- 
pose and use, and which we dedicate to our God to 
be his sanctuary, and the meeting-house for himself 
and his people, this building we are to consider hence- 
forth as the symbol of the spiritual temple, the sanc- 
tuary of the Lord ; which temple ye are, in whom the 
Spirit of God dwelleth. 

i. 

Observe, then, in what sense this is true, that the 
material structure is type of the spiritual, the church 
building the type of the church. This is true in the 
common consent and feeling; of men. The building 
devoted to religious uses becomes by that devotion 
the visible and tangible symbol of religion. Jacob's 
pillow of stone becomes, when he sets it up for a 
pillar, Bethel, the house of God, the token of the cov- 
enant between Jehovah and his servant. The taber- 
nacle was a parable to Israel for the time present of 
the more perfect tabernacle not made with hands ; 
the most holy place fashioned by human skill was 
like in pattern to the holy of holies, even heaven 
itself. In like manner the temple and the synagogue 



44 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

were types of the religion whose ordinances were 
therein observed. The Christ himself gave utterance 
to this popular sentiment when He called the temple, 
in tender phrase, my Father's house, and when, with 
consuming zeal for the honor of that house, He made a 
scourge for the beasts and drove them out, rebuked the 
traders in cattle, the sellers of doves, and the money- 
changers, for their mercenary traffic, and said, Take 
these things hence. The temple had even a deeper 
symbolical meaning to Christ. It was the type of 
his own body, the sanctuary to be destroyed indeed 
by wicked hands, but to be reared again, and to abide 
forever. There is a more intimate significance still, 
in all this, to us ; for the mystic body of Christ, the 
living and eternal temple of God, is made up of be- 
lievers in Christ, or Christ and they who are Christ's 
through his redeeming grace. Thus, then, the taber- 
nacle of the wilderness and the temple of Jerusalem, 
which God planned for his people, were the divine 
type of the habitation of God in the Spirit, of which 
Paul is speaking in the text. 

Christ looked at the temple and said, this is my 
Father's house. In like manner, also, the temple was 
the type of his own body, and he could say of that 
body, this is my Father's house. 

Again, the temple, in some sense, was a type of 
that mystical body of Christ and his redeemed peo- 
ple in union with him, of which body he might say, 
this is my Father's house. To Christ the material 
structure betokened the divine and the spiritual ; He 
saw therein the sacred emblem of himself and his 
church built into Him, the chief corner-stone, and 
constituting the holy and eternal temple of the Lord, 
the dwelling-place of God. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 45 

This interpretation of the symbol, this typical mean- 
ing of God's house, I say, receives the assent of men ; 
it appeals to the religious sense ; it finds expression 
in all outward forms of worship, and in the regard 
for things sacred, whatever their form. 

The fetich, the rude stone pillar, the altar, the 
shrine, the rock-hewn temple, the pagoda, the mosque, 
the meeting-house, the cathedral, are symbols of re- 
ligion, types more or less distinct and perfect of the 
holy temple, the habitation of God. 

It is true, also, that the material house is type of 
the spiritual in the thought and language of the Apos- 
tle, and of the divine word. Paul wrote to the Ephe- 
sians, who were under the influence of the splendid 
architecture of that city. The most prominent object 
there was the temple of Diana, a heathen ■ temple, 
profaned by profligate abuses, but yet a religious tem- 
ple, type therefore of the moral and religious instincts 
of the people. Paul's architectural figures are, there- 
fore, not merely architectural, but they are drawn 
from religious architecture. He does not speak of pal- 
aces, halls, theatres, secular buildings, but of temples 
and sacred buildings. At Ephesus, Corinth, Athens, 
he found that the finest examples of architecture were 
symbols of religion. These classic temples, because 
they were religious types, furnished his imagery of 
the heavenly temple. 

From these consecrated buildings, and not from pal- 
ace, theatre, or secular building, he derived his signifi- 
cant form of thought ; he " turned his language into 
architectural allegory," and made it to conform to the 
popular feeling, and to win the common consent. 

The Bible is full of this symbolism. The imagery 



46 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

drawn from sacred architecture is striking, and sig- 
nificant of the highest meaning. The New Testa- 
ment writers learned from the fanes, and shrines, and 
altars, where Hebrew and Jew worshiped, the noblest 
spiritual lessons. " Which things are an allegory " 
may be said of all religious structures, and all mate- 
rial forms that belong to religion. 

Moses and Solomon and Zerubbabel, with their ar- 
chitects and builders, were thus the guides of Eze- 
kiel and Paul and John, who saw the temple of God 
in vision and inspiration. The builders of tabernacle 
and temple furnish form of language in which inspired 
thought and revelation take shape and express the 
heavenly realities. Thus to John, he that overcom- 
eth is the pillar in the temple of God. The celestial 
city has foundation and walls built of precious stones, 
and the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the 
temple thereof. Peter beholds the spiritual house 
built of living stones, and the stone which the build- 
ers rejected is made the head of the corner. To Paul 
the followers of Christ themselves become an holy 
temple in the Lord. To the craftsmen and designers 
of Ephesus and of Corinth, to the workingmen of the 
Apostle's time, and of our time as well, the New Tes- 
tament speaks in a familiar language. Its profound 
truth is clothed in popular garments. It addresses 
the senses, and thus impresses the soul. It enforces 
the fact that we are bound to place, and affected by 
environment. It controls us by the power of local at- 
tachment ; it bids us set up the pillar, rear the altar, 
build somewhere the meeting-house for God and his 
people. The only building distinctively Christian is 
a spiritual temple, and all architectural forms of lan- 
guage in their Christian use point to that. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 47 

The symbolical aspect of the religious edifice gives 
it its chief significance ; its ready suggestion of what 
is spiritual and divine distinguishes it. It is to point 
as an index heavenward ; it is a sign off which one 
may read — This way to God. 

Not in its materials, its plan, its finish, its furniture ; 
not in its architectural style, classic, Eomanesque, 
Gothic ; not in its name, cathedral, chapel, meeting- 
house, lies its moral power. These are nothing in 
themselves ; but in their symbolism they are more 
than all other buildings. When the church edifice be- 
comes the type of the spiritual facts which the Apostle 
names in the text, then it answers its true and highest 
purpose. It . is the sign of an inner experience ; it 
localizes the human and divine communion ; it is a 
silent proof of the presence and power of the Holy 
Spirit. It is the earthly porch to the heavenly courts. 
Through it the saintly procession passes continually 
into the temple of the living God. 

ii. 

Observe, then, the essential qualities of the sym- 
bol. 

These are determined by their use, and by what 
they typify. The symbol must ever point to the re- 
ality. The material must aid to realize the spiritual ; 
the outward form must suggest the inward grace. 
The truth here lies between two extremes, each of 
which is error. One error makes the symbol every- 
thing, and the shrine, the altar, the religious structure 
becomes the idol, and the worship is idolatry. It mat- 
ters not what is the name — Baal, Dagon, or Gau- 
tama — or whether it be shrine, altar, or crucifix that 



48 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

symbols spiritual things. The symbol put in the place 
of the reality turns worship into idolatry, and never 
leads a soul to God. 

The opposite error is that which discards the sym- 
bol, puts aside altar and emblem, turns Bethel back to 
a stone heap, appropriates nothing to sacred use, re- 
duces religion to mere naturalism, without ordinances 
or emblems, without a local habitation or a name. 

Christianity has to contend with both these errors. 
The one would exhaust all power in appeals to the 
senses, and expend itself in scenic display and spectac- 
ular performance ; the other, breaking from all this, 
leaves nothing to rouse the soul by means of the ma- 
terial and symbolical, forgetting that man has body as 
well as soul ; that mind and heart are reached through 
the medium of the senses so long as he remains on 
earth. 

Towards this last error Puritanism tended, and the 
cheerless, unsightly, comfortless meeting-house was 
the exponent. But religion, following its true bent, 
finds better expression tor itself. God gave the plan 
of a noble building when he put the design for the 
tabernacle into the hands of Moses. As to material 
and ornament, it had no mean provision ; and, if we 
are not to follow this model, yet we are to remember 
that it is to us the type of the holiest realities of our 
own spiritual faith. We are to consider, also, the fact 
that religion, when free to express itself, everywhere 
appropriates the best things to its use ; it appears in 
the richest forms, and is thus the inspirer of the best 
thought. Architectural genius and constructive skill 
have appeared at their best when they have obeyed 
religion. Eeligion furnishes art with its best models, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 49 

and stimulates it to its finest endeavor. The temples 
of Greece — pagan Greece, indeed — are the real mon- 
uments of her glory. Rome's cathedrals outlast her 
palaces ; her theatres and regal halls are ruins ; but 
her religious shrines are continually renewed. 

Eeligious houses are the waymarks of Europe's his- 
torical course. The progress and development of our 
own nation appear in the structures we build in the 
name of our God. Thus the noblest thought will take 
architectural shape, and the noblest architecture will 
prove itself to be religious and Christian. 

To be symbolical, Christian architecture must have 
a style of its own. The Christian temple ought not 
for an instant to be mistaken for any secular building. 
From foundation to cross-tipped tower or spire, in 
shape and effect, it ought to proclaim itself the house 
of God. It is not a palace, nor a cottage, nor a public 
hall. It has no resemblance to the shop, the office, 
the trading house, the factory. These have their own 
purpose and use and corresponding style. The ma- 
terial temple, God's house, has its specific purpose and 
use, and it must express these in itself. Without, all 
the walls must declare it, This is the house of the 
Lord ; within, all must voice it, This is God's house. 
The mountain could be no more sacred to Moses, when 
he put off the shoes from his feet, and said, This place 
is holy ground, than the house built for the Lord, 
dedicated in solemn prayer and praise to Him, is 
sacred to those who worship the Lord within it. 

Nor could Horeb be any more really the place 
where Jehovah appeared, than is the house of God, 
when in answer to prayer He fills it with the presence 



50 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

of the Holy Spirit, and takes possession of the hearts 
of worshipers there. 

As in the mount Jehovah and Moses talked to- 
gether, so in the house of the Lord, God and his peo- 
ple converse with one another. If the service of praise 
is not a mockery, it is worship ; if our prayers are not 
false to the name, then as we pray we talk with God. 
If the reading of the Word and its unfolding and ap- 
plication in the sermon be to us w T hat they are in the 
divine intent, then God speaks in the word, and car- 
ries his thought to the heart as the gospel sermon is 
preached. 

To this end, then, is the symbol. It must be the 
medium of this divine and human communing. It 
must be the place where God and his children may in- 
terchange thought ; where the assembly of the people 
may come under the influence of the Spirit by means 
of his chosen instruments and agencies. As to archi- 
tectural style, that may be a matter of choice ; as to 
material, construction, or ornamentation, choice again 
or resources may dictate. But there must be no dis- 
sembling, no falsehood. The symbol to point to truth 
must itself be true. In a word, and according to the 
Apostle's thought, the essential qualities of the mate- 
rial structure, so far as they have any typical mean- 
ing, must represent or betoken the spiritual structure. 
So far as the meeting-house of Christians means any- 
thing religious, anything more than a shelter from 
the storm, or a convenient place where religious exer- 
cises may be held, so far it must represent and suggest 
what belongs to the Christian religion, and to us, what 
belongs to our faith, and enters into our experience of 
it. If we are not idolaters, then away with idols ; if 






HISTORICAL SKETCH. 51 

we do not worship saints, then away with saintly effi- 
gies ; if we are not ritualists, then away with what is 
arbitrary in form and ritual. If we are spiritual, and 
come here to worship God, who is spirit, then let us 
use what will convey spiritual impression, and be the 
means of spiritual renewal and growth. Remember, 
that so long as we live in a world where things seen 
are at best types of the things that are not seen, we 
must deal with symbols of things, and by them be 
helped to know the real things still invisible. The es- 
sential realities of our religion pertain to God, to man, 
to human sin, and to Christ, the atoning Saviour from 
sin ; to the Holy Spirit, and our experience of his re- 
newing and sanctifying grace. Somehow this build- 
ing, where we begin to-day to worship, must lead us 
to think of God. Here I must come to feel, by the 
sacred influence of this house set apart for God, that 
I am in the presence of God, and my heart is open 
before Him. I must know that I am in my Father's 
house. Let the home feeling prevail within, for these 
walls must express it. This is the Father's house, and 
here the Father's children may be at home. Here too 
must the soul feel its relation to other souls. Some- 
thing pervading the place must reveal the spiritual 
bond that binds us together ; the poorest and the rich- 
est, the ignorant and the learned, and that earthly 
distinctions and invidious relations must not prevail. 

Something here, also, must convince us of personal 
sin, and lead us to penitence and to faith in Christ. 
By the very contrast of the attractive place where we 
worship, our own repulsive dispositions and habits 
shall be discovered to us, and a holy influence shall 
help us to be better than we are. The very sym- 



52 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

bolry of the place itself shall aid to bring us beneath 
the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, and quicken 
into life and action regenerate natures thus made 
ready to move in the way of sanctifying grace. 

To this end has this building been wrought, which 
is to-day set apart for religious purposes in the name 
of our God. It stands in architectural plan in the 
form of the most significant of all Christian symbols, 
the cross. Its tower and gables are surmounted by 
the cross. By it, as an illustration of the Scriptural 
scene, we shall tell the story of Calvary to the chil- 
dren in their earliest lessons in the chapel; thence, 
when they believe in the Crucified, we shall lead them 
here into the waters of baptism in the name of the 
Lord. As his disciples they will take their place at 
the table of the Lord, and enter into Christian fellow- 
ship and service. Thence from beneath the cross, and 
out from the circle which the true cross makes per- 
fect, they shall pass, one by one, into the higher fel- 
lowships, where there is no cross indeed, but an im- 
mortal crown. 

O holy sainted fellowships 

Of the cross of Jesus ! 
These shall abide when earth's bond slips ; 
For each true word from Christ-touched lips, 
Invites to heaven's companionships, 

Beneath the Cross of Jesus. 

ni. 

Three things remain for us to observe in regard to 
the relation and use of the symbol. 

It is to us the type of our own spiritual relation to 
God. The material temple is the sign of the holy 
temple in the Lord, in whom ye are build ed together 
or a habitation of God in the spirit. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 53 

1. This house, then, must ever be held as subordi- 
nate to the real building of our God. It stands in its 
strength and beauty, a thing of joy to the builders. 
But it was builded not for its own sake, not to display 
its unique proportions, nor its harmony, nor its artistic 
completeness. It is the material sign and shadow of 
a building rising in fairer form and finish within its 
own unfilled spaces, into which holy temple God, by 
his Spirit, is transforming the worshipers here together 
with the worshipers of God in all the world. 

2. It is the symbol of the spiritual reality, and 
therefore it is and must ever be distinctive. It is set 
apart this day from all common and secular purpose 
to sacred and holy use. As the bread and the wine 
in the Lord's Supper are no longer common articles of 
food, but emblems, symbols of the body and blood of 
Jesus, so the house we now devote to God is no longer 
an ordinary house, but the outward and material em- 
blem of the spiritual house, the dwelling-place of the 
Spirit of God. Henceforth, so long as it shall remain 
a church edifice, from the granite foundation to the 
double cross, all is distinctively sacred. The brick, 
the stone, the wood, the ornaments, are set apart for 
spiritual service. 

As Sunday among the days is the Lord's day, this 
building shall stand among the buildings of the city, 
the Lord's house, consecrated to his holy name. 

For this the organ, with its thousand tones, is fash- 
ioned and tuned, and made to blend with human voices 
which God himself has tuned to his praise. All the 
inclosed spaces are to be filled with the glory of God. 
All the building fitly framed together by skill of archi- 
tect, by the hand of the builders, all the building is 



54 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

to be to us the type of the divine sanctuary, the habi- 
tation of God, who chooses for his temple the souls 
of Christ's redeemed ! 

3. This church edifice, then, in its highest relation 
and use is to be considered accessory and helpful. 
While it remains subordinate and distinctive it points 
and leads to the spiritual reality. It shall answer its 
holy purpose as it helps the sincere worshiper to feel 
that his soul is a part of the temple of God ; as it shall 
be a means to convict the obdurate and sinful that he 
shuts out God from his soul through willful unbelief; 
as within its walls tender and contrite hearts shall be- 
come the abode of the Spirit of the Lord. All within 
may be helpful to soul-union with God. The air, the 
light, the furniture, the service, the worship, let all 
these be instruments and aids to lead souls out of sin 
into holiness, to escape hell and to gain heaven, to 
come home to God and be at peace. 

It is not too good for its purpose; would it were 
better. But, may I not say it, we have brought our 
best offering, in this house, to our God. 

It is poor beside that which it betokens, as every 
earthly and perishable thing is poor beside that which 
is heavenly and eternal. It is indeed mean and lowly 
contrasted with that which it emblems, the souls of 
the purified and saved whom God makes his peculiar 
dwelling-place. But we have allowed nothing false 
nor deceptive in material or finish to find a place here. 
We know that nothing sordid, nothing vile in itself, 
can help to that which is pure and good. A filthy 
cottage will not hallow a mean spirit. By means of 
the building which we now solemnly dedicate to the 
Lord, whatever our earthly condition, we want our- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 55 

selves to be helped on to God, By the music, the 
prayers, the preaching, the ordinances, the worship, 
we may be helped to put away our sin, our vileness, 
our death, and to dedicate ourselves to Him who will 
fit us for glory, immortality, and eternal life. 

By the divine master-builder may we all be fitly 
framed together for an holy temple in the Lord, for 
an habitation of God, through the Spirit. 

AFTERNOON AND EVENING EXERCISES. 

The afternoon of the day of the dedication was an 
occasion of great interest. 

Letters were read from Eev. Dr. S. P. Hill, of Wash- 
ington, D. C; Dr. K. A. Guild, of Brown University; 
Rev. Dr. A. J. Gordon, of Boston; Rev. Dr. 0. S. 
Stearns, of Newton Theological Institution ; and Rev. 
Dr. S. W. Duncan, of Rochester, N. Y. 

The first address was made by Rev. A. H. Strong, 
D. D., President of the Theological School, of Roch- 
ester, N. Y., who said it w T as with feelings of pe- 
culiar tenderness that he came back to his first pas- 
torate, where, twenty-two years ago, in fear and 
trembling, he commenced his life-work of preaching 
the Word. It is the same church to-day, and yet 
not the same. The faces of many of those whom he 
w T as accustomed to see then have now disappeared. 
Among those persons whom he remembered with spe- 
cial tenderness were Mr. Duncan, Mr. Keely, Mr. Ap- 
pleton, Mr. George, and Mr. Whittier, whose places 
in the church were seldom vacant, and to their Chris- 
tian sympathy he owed much of his success. It is 
good for us to seek refuge in the sanctuary, and he 
had come back to this, his first church, as Jacob went 



56 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

back to his Bethel, to renew his vows. God is not 
confined to any one place, but will meet his children 
where they seek Him. This church has many precious 
memories of his coming to them in their old place of 
worship, and He will meet them in their new sanc- 
tuary, if they will turn to Him with all their hearts. 
The sanctuary provides a refuge from doubt and skep- 
ticism. It is a refuge for the friendless ; it is a refuge 
for the sinner. Let us remember that it is not the 
walls or outward adornments of our house of worship 
that make it a sanctuary, but the presence of the Holy 
Spirit. May that Spirit fill this house of worship and 
the hearts of the worshipers, so that it will be manifest 
to the world that God is with this people. 

Rev. William Fitz, of East Providence, R. I., a 
former pastor of the church, was next introduced. 
He was glad to be present with the church on this 
joyful occasion, and claimed a kinship with the peo- 
ple. He felt somewhat related to Dr. Smith, its first 
pastor, and Mr. Batchelder, who succeeded him, al- 
though he had never met them personally. He also 
thought before coming to the gathering that he knew 
Dr. Strong, yet he must confess that he was mistaken, 
for when, at the close of the morning service, he ex- 
pressed his regrets that he (the doctor) was not pres- 
ent, he was informed that it was he who sat on the 
rostrum with him and invoked the blessing of God 
on the services. 

He brought the greeting of Rhode Island to the 
society. God loves the people for their generous gifts. 
It is not what we say, but what we do, by which men 
judge us. It becomes the followers of Christ, there- 
fore, to do work for Him. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 57 

Rev. Dr. G. W. Bosworth, another of the former 
pastors of the First Baptist Church, followed Mr. Fitz. 
He had sent word the day previous that it would be 
hardly possible for him to be present, but he had 
come, and now that he was present he could not deny 
himself so much as to keep silent. He must express 
joy at what the people had done. God be praised 
that He has enabled them to do so much, yet the true 
temple of God is in the hearts of his children, and 
all the costly structures that men may build will not 
bring the Almighty to them, unless the people open 
their hearts and permit Him to dwell in them. Look- 
ing into the future, he saw great possibilities before 
this church. Its house can become the gate of heaven 
to many who are now friendless and Christless. The 
everlasting Father will come and manifest his glory 
here when the people with one consent call upon 
Him. Let this indeed be a hallowed spot, from which 
shall flow streams that shall make glad the city of 
God. 

Rev. J. W. B. Clark, D. D., pastor of the Portland 
Street Baptist Church, was called upon to report for 
the younger Baptist churches. He said it gave him 
pleasure to respond in behalf of the daughters — such 
daughters to such a mother. He did not speak in 
behalf of a family of little children, but of grown-up 
children, the youngest of whom is nearly twenty-five 
years old, and who had come to congratulate their 
mother in her new home. The time had been when 
the parent had seemed to be growing old, yet she had 
now grown young again, and it appeared easy for her 
to be satisfied with this dispensation of Providence. 
He was glad to witness the rejuvenation. Let the 



58 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

mother take the lead and the daughters will follow. 
It is possible for the First Baptist Church to become 
really the first church in the city in her power for 
good. Then let her seize her opportunity and be- 
come first in all Christian work. 

Rev. Dr. R. H. Seeley, pastor of the North Church, 
was introduced as the senior pastor of the city. He 
said he was present as the oldest pastor in the city* 
yet he ministered to the youngest in the sisterhood 
of churches. There was one thing apparent, how- 
ever ; whatever may be the rank of the churches, we 
can boast of our city, which has just commenced its 
onward and upward course, and has before her a glo- 
rious future, in which the churches are to bear an 
important part. In referring to the new church edi- 
fice which had just been dedicated to the service of 
God, he spoke of its architectural beauty, and said 
it recalled to his mind Ruskin's work, entitled the 
"Seven Lamps of Architecture ; " one of these lamps 
was Sacrifice, and this beautiful structure is the re- 
sult of your sacrifice. He likened the churches of the 
city to a camp which has its intrenchments and its 
divisions. If well-trained troops are sent out a grand 
victory will be gained. Then let the churches work 
together, each in its own way, but for the same ob- 
ject, and they can change the character of this city 
and make it a bright and shining light in the moral 
and Christian world. 

In introducing the next speaker, it was said that 
the Rev. Dr. Baldwin, of the Second Church, Boston, 
took his wife from Haverhill. He could not be here 
except by his representative, Rev. 0. P. GifFord, of the 
Warren Avenue Church, Boston. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 59 

Mr. Gifford said he had three reasons for being pres- 
ent. The first was, that when he was a student in 
Providence, R I., he frequently enjoyed the hospitality 
of him who is now pastor of this church ; another was, 
that one of his instructors while pursuing his theolog- 
ical studies was present on the occasion ; and the third 
was, that his predecessor in the pulpit which he fills 
had found nine tenths of his inspiration for usefulness 
in Haverhill. He spoke of the beauty of the new edi- 
fice, and congratulated the society on the success that 
had attended them in their efforts to construct it. 
They had put their money into the house, and it had 
come out in their ideal. But there is something more 
needful than a beautiful church, with all its appoint- 
ments. There is need of an atmosphere of Christian 
love. The church is a means to an end, and that end 
is to reach those who are outside the church. Those 
outside must see the Christ in you before they will 
come under your influence. You must not only have 
Christ in your meeting-place, but He must be with you 
in your daily life, before the world will recognize you 
as his followers. 

Rev. Dr. Alvah Hovey, of Newton Theological In- 
stitution, was the last speaker of the afternoon. He 
spoke of his experience with this church, which he 
had as a supply for their former pastor, Dr. Train, for 
whom he preached during his absence on a visit to 
Europe. Memories of this people were pleasant. 
Names that had been mentioned to-day were dear 
to him. He referred to the devotion and Christian 
love that characterized the church at that time, and 
which he had reason to believe abounded now. He 
urged the church to a full consecration to the work of 
the Master, whose promises never fail. 



60 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

The session closed with the singing of the 794th 
hymn, and the benediction by Dr. Hovey. 

The services in the evening commenced with an 
organ prelude, followed by an anthem by the choir. 
Rev. D. P. Morgan, of Beverly, then read the 45th 
Psalm, and prayer was offered by the pastor. Hymn 
591 was sung, after which Rev. Dr. Strong preached 
from the text found in Matthew xxii. 42, " What think 
ye of the Christ ? whose son is he ? " This question 
was asked by Jesus of the Pharisees, and had been 
echoing down the ages ever since. It is asked of each 
one of us to-night. What is your answer ? That the 
Christ was a man his sufferings and temptations fully 
indicate. He was human, and therefore was subjected 
to like temptations as other men. He was not only 
a man. He was also the Ideal man. It may seem 
strange that we have no authentic portraiture of 
Christ's physical form or visage. Yet there is suffi- 
cient revelation of Him in the Scripture to enable us 
to fix his image in our minds. He is represented as 
the chiefest of ten thousand, and the one altogether 
lovely ; all the qualities that attract our attention are 
found in Him. He possesses in himself all the per- 
fections of humanity. He is also the life-giving man. 
He is the new beginning and fountain head of hu- 
manity. Adam was first created in the image of God, 
but he sinned and ]ost that image, and in him we all 
died. Christ came to restore to fallen man that image. 
He who was able to create humanity was able to re- 
create it. No man can explain the nature of Christ 
except he admits that He came from God. In Him 
we have the fruit and culmination of humanity. He 
has a life that is germinal, that is capable of self-prop- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 61 

agation. There is, therefore, something more in the 
phrase "Son of Man." He is the "Son of God," as 
well. He could look back and say, " Before Abraham 
was, I am." He speaks of the glory He had with the 
Father before the world was. These are figures taken 
from Scripture ; but we have proof of his divine as 
well as human nature near at hand, in the experience 
of every true Christian. It is not enough that man 
has a divine Saviour. We need Him individually, we 
need Him daily. He can bring us into union with the 
Father. We need to see humanity and Deity united 
in Him. We need also to accept this Saviour, and to 
accept Him now ; to make Him our personal advo- 
cate, for there is none other who can save us. He 
knows our frailties, having been partaker of our na- 
ture, and his divinity gives Him a right to present us 
in his name to the Father. Again comes the ques- 
tion, " What think ye of Christ ? Whose son is he ? " 

The sermon was full of searching thoughts, and was 
listened to by the large congregation that filled every 
seat of the auditorium. 

Previous to the singing of the closing hymn, the 
pastor extended a cordial invitation to all who have no 
other Christian home to come to the new church, 
urging any persons who felt that they could not come 
because they were poor, to come without money and 
without price. 

Mr. S. B. Whitney's selections upon the organ dur- 
ing the services, day and evening, were as follows : — 

Prelude in F Rink. 

Violin cavatina for organ ..... Raff. 

Aria from orchestral suite in D . . . Bach. 

Fugue in C Bach. 



62 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

Improvisation on Vesper Hymn. 

Impromptu in F sharp . . . . Raff. 

Fugue in G minor ...... Bach. 

The quartette selections included three English 
anthems. 

il I was glad when they said unto me." 

By Sir George Ellery. 
" How amiable are thy dwellings." . By Barnaby. 
" O continue forth thy loving-kindness." " Hopkins. 

Mrs. West's solo selections were : " Prayer from Der 
Freyschutz," and Schubert's " Elegy of Tears." 

With the work of building done, and the pledges 
for its payment generously given, the church and con- 
gregation entered the new house, the fourth in the 
history of the Baptist Religious Society. They who 
planned and executed the work proved themselves 
ready and able to meet the demands which the rapid 
growth of the city made upon them. 

CONCLUDING SUMMARY. 

The church edifices of this society mark the ori- 
gin, growth, and efficiency of the religious enterprise 
which the divine Providence committed to the Bap- 
tists of Haverhill. 

The first building was never formally dedicated, but 
was used for the first religious service June 9th, 1765. 
The second building was dedicated November 7th, 
1833. The third November 9th, 1849. The fourth 
November 22d, 1883. 

The society antedated the church by four months, 
and was organized January 1st, 1765. The record 
of February 14th, 1765, contains the following names 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 63 

of the first Building Committee : Cornelius Mansis, 
Jacob Whittier, John Green, Simon Ayer, " Captain M 
John White, Edmund Mooers, Jonathan Shepard, John 
White, " March' t," Richard Ayer, Samuel Messer, and 
William Greenleaf. 

The above named committee on the 22d of Feb- 
ruary, one week after their appointment, laid before 
the society the plan for the meeting-house. "The 
dimensions were sixty feet in length, and forty-two 
feet in breadth ; the steeple fourteen feet square at 
the west end of the house, and a porch at the east 
end, and convenient for stairs to go into the gallery." 
The plan was accepted, and the building at once con- 
structed, in such substantial manner as to remain for 
sixty-eight years to meet the wants of the changing 
congregation. 

May 15th, 1765, the first Prudential Committee was 
chosen, consisting of "Mr. John White, Marchant," 
Major Edmund Mooers, and Captain William Green- 
leaf. These gentlemen were instructed to manage all 
the a Prudentials and affairs towards framing, raising, 
and furnishing the meeting-house, and when the said 
house is finished to lay their accounts before the so- 
ciety." 

On the 8th day of August, 1765, the society, by a 
unanimous vote, gave the Rev. Mr. Hezekiah Smith " a 
call to the work of the ministry in this place." The 
minister's salary was fixed at one hundred pounds law- 
ful money. As the value of money depreciated during 
the Revolution the sum was increased, until in 1779 
it was voted to pay Mr. Smith six hundred pounds. 

The next year after the organization, or in May, 
1766, an agreement or covenant was signed by a 



64 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

large number of the church and society, which shows 
very conclusively their views of church ordinances. 
The covenant is in the following words: — 

" We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, by 
studying the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments, which we look upon to be the word of God, 
and only rule to walk by, are of the opinion that the 
Baptists, called by some Anabaptists, are according to 
God's Holy Word; and do acknowledge ourselves to 
be conscientiously of that profession, and believe it 
to be according to the example that Jesus Christ left 
and ordered his children to walk in : Begging the 
prayers of all God's people that we may have grace 
to walk agreeably to this our profession, and that we 
may have regenerating grace, and be prepared to 
come up to all God's holy ordinances, and be enabled 
to walk blameless therein ; We do hereby covenant, 
agree, and engage each one for himself to uphold, 
maintain, and support this profession, in this town of 
Haverhill, by paying each one his proportion towards 
the support of the said ministry, and all necessary 
charges that may arise relative to that affair." 

To this covenant new members freely subscribed 
their names from year to year, until the society was 
largely represented in Haverhill and all the neigh- 
boring towns. 

On Monday, December 13th, 1790, it was voted 
that "James Duncan, Jr., Ephraim Corliss, Enoch 
Nicolls, and Thomas Clarke be a committee to draw 
up the outlines or principles of incorporation for this 
society, and make report at the next meeting." The 
matter, however, was delayed until November 12th, 
1792, when a petition to the legislature for an act 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 65 

of incorporation was adopted, and in January, 1793, 
it was found that ninety persons had signed the peti- 
tion. The committee to present it to the legislature 
consisted of Messrs. James Duncan. Jr., Samuel Mer- 
rill. Samuel White, Esq., Ephraim Corliss, and Thomas 
Clarke. 

The bill containing the act of incorporation passed 
the House of Representatives February loth, 1793, 
and was signed by Daniel Cobb, Speaker. It passed 
the Senate the next day, and was signed by Samuel 
Phillips, President. 

February 18th, 1793, it was approved and signed 
by the governor, John Hancock, and duly attested by 
John Avery, Jr., Secretary. 

At the annual meeting in 1799 it was voted to 
raise five hundred and fifty dollars to build a steeple, 
and thus complete the meeting-house. Under the 
date of September 21st, 1799, is this record: "Where- 
as Samuel White, Esq., has presented the Baptist Re- 
ligious Society, in Haverhill, with a bell, voted, That 
this society, in testimony of the high esteem they 
entertain of the generosity of Mr. White in compli- 
menting them with a good bell, present their thanks 
to him ; and that he be exonerated from paying any- 
thing towards defraying the expense of repairing the 
meeting-house ; and that the clerk furnish Mr. White 
with a copy of this vote." 

The ordinary affairs of the society were well ad- 
ministered, and the next noteworthy action appeared 
in connection with the death of Rev. Dr. Smith, the 
first pastor. A large committee was chosen to take 
charge of the funeral services, to invite Dr. Stillman 
and other clergymen from Boston, and to procure 



66 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

suits of mourning for the family of their late pastor, 
and three hundred dollars were appropriated to defray 
the expenses on the occasion. 

A similar record appears under the date of April 
8th, 181 8, when Rev. Mr. Batchelder, the second pas- 
tor, died. In the exercise of a humane spirit all ex- 
penses of the funeral were paid by the society, and 
the salary was continued and paid to the late pastor's 
widow until the following July. In April, 1832, the 
pastorate of Eev. George Keely closed with mutual 
expressions of respect and esteem on the part of the 
society and their pastor. 

When, in 1832, the Eev. S. P. Hill was ordained 
as pastor, the question of a new meeting-house was 
under discussion. It was proposed to repair the old 
house and build a vestry on land west of the build- 
ing. This was found inexpedient owing to the terms 
on which the land had been given to the society. It 
was therefore resolved to build anew, and with great 
dispatch the old house was taken down, the hill on 
which it stood considerably lowered by grading, and 
the new building, fronting on Merrimack Street, was 
constructed, whose dimensions were seventy feet in 
length and forty-two feet in width. It was ready for 
occupancy in November of the same year. Mean- 
while the church and society shared the hospitality 
of the First Parish, and held services in its meeting- 
house. The thanks of the society were recorded for 
this fraternal action. 

The rapid growth of the society during Mr. Train's 
early ministry made a demand for a new and larger 
meeting-house. In July, 1848, a meeting of the so- 
ciety was held, and Mr. Moses D. George, in behalf 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 67 

of a committee previously chosen, made a report, in 
which it was recommended that a new house be built, 
to contain not less than a hundred pews. The report 
also stated that " the general sentiment was very 
united and harmonious in favor of a new location." 

The committee, therefore, unanimously recom- 
mended a change of location from the site of the 
present meeting-house to some place hereafter to be 
determined. The report was accepted. Messrs. James 
H. Duncan, Leonard Whittier, George Appleton, Moses 
D. George, and Warner R. Whittier were chosen as 
a Building Committee. This committee was author- 
ized to sell the property on Merrimack Street, and to 
purchase a new lot at their discretion. 

But the expected change of site was to be delayed 
for thirty-five years, and in November, 1849, the third 
house on the old location was finished and dedicated 
with appropriate religious services. It was a fine 
Gothic building, measuring in the interior eighty-four 
feet in length by forty-nine feet in width, containing 
the first organ owned by the society, and having a 
seating capacity for six hundred people. The Building 
Committee did their work to the satisfaction of the 
society, and at the meeting in April, 1850, they re- 
ported that all the expenses, amounting to $17,284.59, 
had been paid. The thanks of the society were unan- 
imously given to the gentlemen of the committee, 
and they were honorably discharged. 

The action of the society in all its previous history 
has been remarkably harmonious, progressive, and yet 
conservative and wise. The legal difficulties which 
in 1848 prevented a removal from the old site con- 
fronted the new Building Committee which was chosen 



68 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

in 1881. But the demand for removal was now more 
imperative ; preliminary steps were cautiously but 
surely taken ; and at length the society moved in the 
matter with the energy and success of which the 
noble building it now occupies is the gratifying illus- 
tration and proof. 

The church is well organized for Christian service 
in all departments. The society remains to be gov- 
erned still by the spirit of the men who organized it, 
and whose recorded prayer may be repeated to-day: 
" That we may have grace to walk agreeably to this 
our profession, and that we may have regenerating 
grace, and be prepared to come up to all God's 
holy ordinances, and be enabled to walk blameless 
therein." 

In answer to these petitions the society will ever co- 
operate with the church, and the material structures 
thus builded will ever symbol the spiritual temple 
wherein abides forever the Christ with his redeemed 
and sanctified people. 




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